The Life and Times of the Marauders
by nkrockz23
Summary: MWPP(Marauders) era. Starting from first year. Eventual RLSB slash. My first fanfic!
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

_This is my first proper fanfic, so please don't judge! Sorry for some slight changes in canon. This will eventually be a slash fic. Yaoi. Gay people. Don't like, don't read._

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**Chapter 1: The Beginning**

"R. J. Lupin" said the name on the shabby-looking suitcase. Beside it, a small, nervous-looking boy waited with equally nervous-looking parents peering around anxiously behind him. It was a big day for all of them. They stood on platform nine-and-three-quarters, staring at the Hogwarts express that the boy was about to board.

Now, Remus, that boy, wasn't normal even by wizard standards. Yes, if you haven't guessed by now, this is THAT Hogwarts Express. No, he had a dark, dark secret, which, if anyone else knew, would make them run for their lives. Remus Lupin was a _WEREWOLF._

His frayed clothes and tattered suitcase betrayed his parents' rather impoverished state. Not that their own clothes fared much better. They were not just nervous, they were petrified of sending Remus' werewolfy self to Hogwarts, but they had been unable to cure him inspite of repeated tries throughout the five, almost six years since he had been bitten, and had to be satisfied with Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's assurances and plans for the Full Moon. However, Remus had nevertheless been thrilled to be accepted despite his "condition".

After that followed a month of frenzied rush- dashing to Diagon Alley for wand, supplies, books, robes; madly packing and unpacking till it all fit perfectly; cramming his brains with spells and History…. But it was ever so exciting for Remus, who had never expected, even in his wildest dreams, to be going where he was today. His parents- muggleborn mother and pureblood father- had both gone to Hogwarts, and had raved about it to Remus, who had listened wistfully, longingly; knowing that after being bitten by Fenrir Greyback, foulest of all werewolves, at the tender, innocent age of six, he had no chance of going there. His parents put on a brave face, but inside, when he voiced his fears, they had agreed. They loved Remus, but not everyone knew how gentle he was. They would think him a monster! So they did nothing, not even when they hurt inside, hearing him howl with pain, the _**pain**_.

Hence Remus being ecstatic about getting the letter of acceptance from Hogwarts.

So here Remus stood. He hugged his parents, his mother's eyes watery with unshed tears threatening to spill out, and waved goodbye. He stepped bravely onto the train, lugging his heavy suitcase behind him.

He was nervous, but he resolved to be confident and make friends, but also not to EVER tell anyone of his secret. He wasn't that stupid. The first few compartments were full, so he walked past them to the empty compartment he could see at the end of the corridor. He heaved a sigh of relief as he sank thankfully into the seat and pushed his suitcase beneath the seat.

He drifted off into a peaceful slumber, the first in the last few days of nervous tension and excitement.


	2. The Different One

_Trying to stick with canon, but please tell me if I've got any facts wrong. Please review!_

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**Chapter 2: The Different One**

Sirius Orion Black was the white sheep of the Black family. He didn't take after his horror of a shrieking mother, or his stern, emotionless father. Or, for that matter, _any_ of the people in his family, except maybe Great-Uncle Alphard or his cousin Andromeda. Guess what? Great-Uncle Alphard was disowned and Andromeda was _that _close to being so, too. After all, no one in the Black family could tolerate the relationship between her and the muggle-born- "mudblood" they called him- Ted Tonks. No matter. Sirius did not **WANT **to be like his horrible family.

All his family had been in Slytherin, even Andromeda. He wanted to break that tradition, break out of the chains of supposed "respectability" and "Black family honour", that kept him trapped in this atrocious life. More than anything, he wanted to be free. He wanted to be disowned, almost. He was going to join the house of the brave, Gryffindor, he resolved.

His sweet little brother, Regulus, feared for him, but Sirius, like always, told him not to worry. Regulus idol-worshipped him, almost, and he was a good kid. Unfortunately, he was naïve and very easy to influence, something their mother, Walburga, had to her advantage as she tried to instill values and ideas in him that she had failed to instill in Sirius. Sirius wasn't jealous, even though he knew Regulus was the favoured child, though younger. He was just afraid that their parents would succeed in turning Regulus into a monster like them.

At King's Cross Station, on platform nine-and-three-quarters, he got a warm farewell only from Regulus. He received the customary "humph!" in response from his father, Orion Black; and the usual hissed scolding from his mother- but he didn't expect more from either of them. This was the way they reacted if he spoke to them. His father would ignore him as far as he could, and his mother would yell and threaten.

He hugged Regulus and got on the train. He had his own owl, Socrates, only to be able to uphold the Black family's reputation of having and being the richest and the best. He carried his suitcase in one hand and the cage in the other.


	3. The Journey(part 1)

_I'm breaking up the train journey and their meeting into 2 or 3 parts because otherwise it's too long to write. So...Sirius, James and Remus (well, the beginning)here..._

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**Chapter 3: The Journey(part 1)**

All his life (all eleven years of it), Sirius had been stuck with children, pureblood children, like that snob Lucius Malfoy. Finally, now, he had been given the opportunity to make proper friends, other children like him.

Musing on these reflections, he bumped into a boy ahead of him. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going!" he apologized. "It's no problem. I'm James Potter. And you are?" the speaker was a friendly-looking, black-and-messy-haired boy with glasses. Sirius responded, "I'm Sirius Black. Are you a first year, too?" James blinked. "A Black? Are you sure? You just apologized to me! I can't believe you're not looking your nose down at me! Still, you might be some kind of extraordinary specimen, to be studied at wondered at! Yes, that must be it….And yes, I'm a first year, too!"

Sirius knew he should be offended, but he honestly couldn't care. He laughed at the grinning, bespectacled boy and knew he had made his first friend.

They pushed their way forward through the chaos of children, through the crowded corridors, all the while chatting about anything and everything, from Quidditch, to what Hogwarts would be like, to dragons and owls, and even spells. By the end of their conversation, they were fast friends and were talking as if they had known each other from birth- good-naturedly ribbing and making fun of each other.

Finally, about ten minutes later, just as the train was starting to pull out of the station, they found an empty compartment. They burst in, still laughing, and realized that the compartment wasn't _**actually **_empty. The other occupant was a sleeping boy with ginger-brown hair and a small frame. He had a slight, pinkish, half-healed scar across his right cheek and he was curled up on one seat. They abruptly stopped laughing, but the damage was done. The boy jerked awake to find them staring at him. His amber-gold eyes peered rather dazedly at them. "Can I help you?" he asked drowsily, but politely.


	4. The Journey(part 2)

_And...Peter!_

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**Chapter 4: The Journey(part 2)**

They came out of their open-mouthed trance. "We were wondering if we could sit here? We're very sorry; we didn't expect anyone to be in here! Sorry for waking you!" Sirius replied, equally politely. There was something in this boy's manner that made even the loud, rather brash Sirius Black remember his carefully-taught Black family etiquette, sit down and behave himself. James and Sirius sat down on the seat opposite and introduced themselves as James Potter and Sirius Black. The boy raised an eyebrow at the surname "Black" that contrasted with Sirius' air of amiability and jollity, and general non-desire to kill everyone on sight, but said nothing about it. He merely introduced himself as Remus Lupin.

It looked as though Remus might either go back to sleep, or pull out one of those horribly bulky textbooks to read- he was actually in the process of doing so- but both James and Sirius were rather intrigued by him and struck up a conversation in the hopes of finding more about him.

About an hour into the train journey, a frantic banging came on the door of the compartment. When opened, a small, puffing, rather short and chubby boy entered, his mousy hair falling over his eyes in his hurry. He locked the door behind him. "Thank…you….they….were…chasing me..." was all he managed before collapsing on the floor. After a few minutes rest and some water, he told them his name was Peter Pettigrew and that he was a first year as well. He had been sitting peacefully in an otherwise empty compartment when some Slytherin second-years barged in and ordered him out. "For once in my cowardly, stupid life, I decided to stand up to bullies. **WRONG** decision, **WRONG** time. They started sending all sorts of hexes at me and laughed at my pained yelping. They chased me all the way down the corridor!" Sirius sniggered. "Hey!" said Peter indignantly. James looked apologetically at Peter and thumped Sirius on the head. "Mate, that was mean!" Sirius looked at Peter and said, "Well, never mind, it's done with. Sorry for laughing." Peter said, "That's alright, if I weren't the victim I would probably funny too. But the problem is that they're sure not to have given up!"


	5. The Journey(part 3)

**Chapter 5: The Journey(part 3)**

Suddenly, a pounding came on the door. Peter squeaked and dived under a seat, barely squashing himself in. Remus calmly got up and opened the door. The blonde, long-haired Slytherin at the door was rather taken aback by his air of unflinching calm. Especially considering the way the boy had pounded at the door. He regained his senses and drawled, "Have you seen a small, chubby, ratty-looking first year? If you do, tell him to watch out-he shouldn't have crossed Lucius Malfoy." Peter thankfully kept quiet, and Remus' rather unnerving calm and believable words dissuaded him from trying to enter.

They shut the door and Peter crawled out, trembling a little. James and Sirius, rather concerned, said, "Don't worry, Peter, you have **US **to protect you!" At that, the atmosphere lightened and all four went back to laughing and joking. As they changed into their robes, Sirius analysed (in his mind) each of the three boys he was currently thinking of as his "friends".

James was easy to decipher. He was loyal, funny, and as hyper as Sirius was himself. He was easy to get along with and had more-or-less the same interests as Sirius. He would be a great friend to have.

Remus was rather an enigma. He was quiet, studious and rather elusive, but his eyes twinkled behind the solemnity, and his conversation was interesting and animated when he let himself go a bit. He would make a good friend, too.

Peter, Sirius wasn't so sure about. He was rather cowardly and weak. Still, Sirius felt sorry for the boy. Inspite of all his suspicions that Peter wasn't very loyal, that he tagged around after the coolest people, the most powerful people available, Sirius sympathized. He understood, from their conversation, that Peter had lived a very sheltered life with loving parents. He envied Peter his life, and was willing to consider him a friend, too. Anyway, there wasn't a problem. Sirius certainly _**intended**_ to be the coolest person in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He thought of this with a smirk, teasing himself for having such an enormous ego…

Then a shocking thought came to him. They had all said they wanted to be in Gryffindor, apart from Remus, who was also fine with Ravenclaw. Peter wanted to be in Gryffindor but mournfully said he would probably be put in Hufflepuff. But what if they were all in different houses? Worse still, hat if he was put in _**Slytherin**_?! He would die in shame, he thought. All of them must have had a similar fear, for they were all quiet and the mood was rather dampened as they climbed sombrely from the train and onto a dock.


	6. The Castle

_Sorry that it's very short! Had to post it before going off to write exams! xD_

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**Chapter 6: The Castle**

"First years, please follow me!" yelled a grim-looking teacher. "Hope **he **doesn't teach us!" whispered Sirius to James. James cracked a smile, and they followed the teacher onto the boats that were supposed to take them to the main (front) entrance of the castle. Peter, Remus, Sirius and James all piled into one boat, which wobbled treacherously as Peter got in. Then it began to drift in the general direction of the imposing-looking castle.

As they stepped out, they glanced up at the majestic, elaborate turrets and impenetrable-looking walls, greatly awed by its size and magnificence. They all had different reactions. Sirius thought, "Well, this looks like a place which I can finally call Home." James thought, "Think of all the awesome, fun things we could do here!" Remus thought, "I don't belong here. No werewolf should be allowed to go to such an amazing school." Peter didn't think very much. He was pretty much scared shitless.

The first years were a scared-looking bunch. They waited outside the huge doors. A strict, bespectacled teacher, who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall ("Her first name is Minerva!" James whispered to Sirius.), told them (well, warned them of) the basic rules of Hogwarts. She vanished inside afterwards.

Though they were all aware of how the Sorting Hat was to sort them into the 4 houses, having all had parents who had gone to Hogwarts, they were all still nervous. The Sorting Hat's decision was final.

Professor McGonagall reappeared and ushered them forward, into the castle….


End file.
